Does black hat SEO still need “real users” to stick?

Lummypro said:

Something I keep running into lately is that rankings gained through aggressive tactics don’t seem to last unless there’s some kind of real activity behind them. Even small things like repeat visits, branded searches, or outside traffic seem to make a difference. It almost feels like search engines care less about how rankings were achieved, and more about whether users actually interact once the page is there. Without that, drops feel faster and harsher than before.

Makes me wonder if black hat SEO today is less about tricks and more about timing and support signals. Curious if anyone else is seeing this pattern, or if it’s just niche-dependent.

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